1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic tape system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a magnetic tape system in which a write retry operation is automatically executed when a write error occurs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic tape systems are widely used as external memory devices in electronic computers. Recently, a magnetic tape system has been utilized for the backup operation of other memory devices, such as a magnetic disc device, having a short access time. In such a magnetic tape system, writing is effected in individual blocks and an interblock gap (IBG) is formed between adjacent blocks to separate each block. If a write error occurs while the data of one block is being written, the written block is a erased and re-writing, that is, write retry, is a executed. If write retry is controlled only by the retry frequency, however, in a so-called variable length block system where the erase block length is not constant, a problem of magnetic tape incompatibility arises. This problem is described in detail hereinafter.